Los Angeles Library & Walt Disney Concert Hall

It rarely rains in California – hence the drought – but the warm weather in LA reminds me of home. Had breakfast, then took a bus to Downtown LA.

Americans are big on convenience – almost everything has a drive-through or other. It was my first time seeing a Drive Thru Pharmacy… ironically, it was right next to a Fatburger drive-thru lol.

Downtown LA is a busy metropolis, with its tall shiny buildings and modern amenities. Despite this, one can still observe poorer parts of the city where there are many homeless people pushing carts or sleeping on the street.

I dunno if I’ve mentioned, but I love reading books; So I couldn’t miss out on visiting one of the largest public-funded libraries in the world -the Los Angeles Public Library. Built in the 1920s, the library has a massive six million books. That’s one book for each person in Kuala Lumpur!

The interior is massive and divided into many sections. We explored a bit, taking care to make as little noise as possible as there were many visitors reading and doing work.

A computer station where you can do research and look up titles.

I like how everything is so well kept. There are even wooden booths with comfy chairs for privacy. Definitely a world-class library.

There’s a nice little park with a water feature once you step outside the library.

View from Flower Street. You can see influences of Egyptian and Mediterranean architecture in its facade.

We went to visit the Walt Disney Concert Hall next. On the way we spotted lots of beautiful purple trees in bloom. They are called Jacaranda and are found all over the city – sort of LA’s version of Japanese sakura.

The building is massive. An iconic landmark in LA, it is often featured in pop culture, movies and tv shows. They were running some show but we didn’t go in because we hadn’t budgeted the time and money for tickets. But I recommend coming here just to gawk at the architecture alone. It has an odd shape, uneven shape, which I think resembles a lotus flower. Maybe it’s just one of those Rorscarch things. What do you think it looks like?

It’s sunny and I’m feeling small and touristy in LA. 🙂

DIRECTIONS

to library:

Take the Metro Red/Purple, Expo or Blue Line to 7th St. Metro Central Station and walk three blocks north on Hope Street.

to Hall:

Get down at the Red Line Civic Center Metro Stop at 101 S.Hill St (southwest corner of First and Hill)